Justice and Mercy
by Wolfgirl220
Summary: For my best friend; I love you Syd! "Any man can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a dad." - Anne Geddes
1. Build-Up

**This idea started because of an essay I wrote for college that involved my best friend/sister-person. We are not related in any way, shape, or form, but in some ways we're closer than actual family. Not even kidding, we sort of adopted each other and each other's families. Part of why I wrote this is because we have six months before high school is over for us. Just from the way things are looking right now, one of us might end up literally a thousand miles away for college, which is going to **_**suck**_**! Anyway, I'm a teeny bit depressed because while I'm not losing her per say, I'm not going to be able to do a five minute drive in less than a year and get to see her (unless we're in the same city/university. That'd be awesome!). So, this is kind of for us; our "If-we-were-actually-sisters-and-got-to-travel-with-the-Doctor-how-awesome-would-that-be?!" fic, where we for once get to actual live out our Doctor fantasies. Now they're not quite accurate, since our fantasies usually involve snogging with our respective favorite Doctors (at least do so long as Smith hasn't licked something gross… again) and that is SO not going to happen here, but you get the idea! **

**Just to prove how much I love this chick, I'm having her hook-up/be in a relationship with Topher Brink later. Yes, **_**that**_** Topher, **_**my**_** Topher, the one from Dollhouse who I am impossibly in love with and Syd would actually fight me for if it came down to it. It's not a crossover, I'm just borrowing him. And giving him to my best friend… which leaves Jack Harkness for me! Ha ha sucker! Just kidding, I think she'd like Topher more in the end. Jack is awesomely cute and very witty, but for my best friend, she needs someone on an intellectual par with her… or maybe not, but I'd just like to see a genius correct the genius for once. ;)**

**Last thing you need to know: when it's Jenny/Lia/Jack/River/anyone-who-isn't-Amy-or-the-Doctor, they think of her name as L-I-A; Amy and the Doctor think of it as L-E-A-H. It's important later, I promise!**

**Oh, sorry, **_**real**_** last thing you need to know: I'm Lia, Syd's Jenny. 'Kay? 'Kay! So, on with the show/Titanic sinking/TARDIS!**

_**Several months in the future:**_

_So, here we all are… or almost all of us, anyway. There are still a few people missing._

_What? What are you talking about?_

_(Not paying attention) Or maybe not a few… quite a few actually… we're missing about half of our family right now… anyway, the ones of us that travel with the Doctor are almost all here. 'The Avenging Family' blah-blah-blahbity-blah. Honestly most villains are _so _uncreative! Not a comic book, y'know…_

_Can you talk in a way that actually makes sense for a minute?!_

_Where's the fun in that?_

_(A pause) So… a family?_

_Of course! You really think because he doesn't look back that he doesn't care? Doesn't work that way, Uncle. (giggles)_

_(Incredulously) Uncle?!_

_Um, duh? You've been around for as long as I can remember… or will remember… or have remembered… Tenses are so confusing! Anyway, yeah, 'Uncle'. Our family's huge. Seriously, I can't keep track of everybody. Shout 'Aunt' or 'Uncle' at Christmas and you get about twenty different voices all responding. Some of us are here forever, some of us not, and it really doesn't matter to anyone. He used to not look back, the Doctor; then he got all of us. Now he doesn't have a choice._

_(Surprisingly soft and tender) Why not?_

_Why does he not look back or why can't he now?_

_Both._

_(Chuckling sadly) It used to be like sticking your hand into a vat of shredded glass for him to go back, you know? All these people, so many he loves and cares about, ripped from him in various ways. It used to be this beautiful stained glass window he could gaze at, but then it shattered, and every time he tried to put the pieces back together it would slice him up and he'd have too much blood over the shards, soaking the paint, so that even if he did manage to make a piece it was ruined. It hurt and scared him, so he just kept running, and the pile of glass just kept getting bigger._

_So what changed?_

_We did. My sister and I, we sat there with that big vat of glass, and we pieced it back together, one little shard at a time, being careful to clean the blood and grief out, crying when a piece wouldn't fit anymore… (A pause) Making them fit, in the end. So when we both finally found him, the window was nearly finished, and it had changed, was even more beautiful than the first time. There were so many more people, so many more faces looking through the glass and grinning and laughing… so many more happy memories to fight the bad…_

_(A long silence) Sweetheart, are you related to your sister?_

_(Amused) Not by blood._

_(Slightly frustrated but amused as well) That's not what I asked._

_(Laughing) Oh, Doc thinks he's so smart, but when it's obvious it can smack him in the face and he won't see it… Takes a human to know a Time Lord, eh?_

_You're avoiding the question._

_(Challengingly) Or maybe I just answered it…_

**London, 1869**

_Gwyneth held the box of matches in her hand, curiously turning it over in her fingers a few times. She was dead and yet she could feel the box, the rough edges of the corners, the smooth lines of it... Carefully she opened it and held a small red-tipped piece of wood in her hands - _

"Don't think so sweetheart." Cool fingers ghosted over hers, closing over her hands and gently prying the match from her fingers. Gwyneth looked up in bewilderment into startling bright brown eyes with a border od thick black lashes. Her deadened senses and muddled mind could barely process the full peachy lips pulling into a smile. But she certainly felt when those lips were pressed against hers in a kiss.

BAM!

Gwyneth's heart was assaulted with energy so quickly that it nearly burst as it restarted. The servant girl gasped and collapsed, falling out of the archway and away from the soft kiss. The cool hands were under her shoulders, pulling insistently as Gwyneth gasped and coughed, aware of the gas in the room for the first time. "C'mon sweetheart!" With stunning force the savior shoved Gwyneth out into the hall. Gwyneth coughed some more as pain began to form in her chest. Pain. Life. It was all back. She turned, scared and grateful all at once, and saw a young woman quickly closing the door. The woman caught Gwyneth's eye and smiled, a quicksilver smile that darted across her face so quickly it was hard to imagine her without it. She was beautiful, with an oval face, high cheekbones and dimples. She was lean and rather short but the muscles in her arms - the sleek kind runners and fencers have - belayed any ideas of fragility. She winked at Gwyneth and vaulted away from the door, catching Gwyneth's hand and pulling her away. They ran from the house, Gwyneth too disoriented to take note of the world around her, and lunged through the door just as the house exploded.

"Problem with those damn things is that you can never tell when they're about to go off!" the woman said cheerfully. Gwyneth wheezed and coughed on the floor, petrified suddenly as she listened to the woman. Listened with both sets of ears.

"Don't hurt me!" she whimpered. The cool hands wrapped about her face and warm lips pressed to her forehead.

"Oh sweetheart. Never. No, I won't hurt you. I'm just going to help you... start over." And with that Gwyneth sank into unconsciousness.

When she woke hours later, she was in a warm little house with a roaring fire, a cat curled at her feet and thick blankets covering her. Gwyneth only had a hazy recollection of her life before. Nothing concrete came to her or called to her. The voices that had been in her head since childhood were gone. And she was blissfully content like that. The blonde haired woman looked through the window, smiled at the sleeping girl, and went on her way. The boy was already coming. The rest was up to the no-longer-dead servant girl.

"Excuse me, _mostly_ dead," she laughed. "Gotta love a time rift!"

**London, 2006**

The red head sat with her back to the door, eyebrows drawn low over green-gold eyes, red-brown hair pulled into a thick and curly ponytail over one shoulder. She took a long drag on her cigarette - electronic one unfortunately - and sighed, vapors gently wafting from between her lips. Harriet Jones came through the door, startled when she noticed that someone was in her chair. "Excuse me! What are you doing?!"

The red haired woman slowly spun in her chair to come face to face with Harriet. Her green-gold eyes were cold as she looked at the other woman critically. "Harriet Jones," she intoned softly. A wicked grin began to curl her lips as she watched the Prime Minister. "Oh you have been naughty haven't you?" The red head crossed her legs, her black skirt, already indecently short, riding up further. Her black stiletto boots clicked against the floor intermittently as she rapped her feet on the ground, keeping a beat to the sensual purr escaping her lips. "Killed an entire alien race using technology derived from other aliens. My, my, my. _Very_ naughty!" Harriet blinked and the girl was standing behind her, arms locked around her neck. The Prime Minister began to choke as she applied the lightest pressure. "I love a naughty girl as much as the next bloke but even I have limits of what I can tolerate!" she whispered harshly in the woman's ear. "Do you understand me? Kill again and I will end you. Is that understood?"

Harriet Jones had been terrified when the Doctor said six words were all that was necessary to bring her down. But this? This young woman holding her neck in her hands and squeezing just enough to convey her point? She was even more terrifying, for in the strong fingers curled around Harriet's windpipe was a determination akin to that of a shark who had found a bleeding creature; even then Harriet knew that she wouldn't let go no matter who faced her if she decided Harriet needed to die. She would not stop until the prime minister was dead.

Just as alarmingly as when she grabbed her, the girl let Harriet go. The older woman collapsed onto her hands and knees, coughing and holding her neck gingerly. She heard the girl sigh and out of the corner of her eye saw the girl lean against the desk. "You were an idiot," she said softly. Gone was the over-the-top sexuality and the menace. She sounded real now and very worn. "What you did today will notify other species that Earth can defend itself. The Doctor was focused on the race you killed; but I'm more afraid of the message you sent." She shifted and the leather of her boots crackled. "Not only did you make it seem like Earth can fight but that it _will_ fight. And that, my dear, means some people will seek you out. Some will run of course but others will see the challenge." There was a pause and a clicking sound. "I have to run now, my sister's calling. But be warned; you do something like this again, and there will be no second chances. I cannot allow you to jeopardize the future of humanity just to prove a point."

And with that there was a blue flash, and she was gone. And Harriet wept for fear and humiliation at being bested by a woman who couldn't be older than twenty, and for the shame as what she had done finally came upon her.

**2014, Outside of London, Nobble-Smith Estate**

The redhead and the blonde both appeared simultaneously on the thick green grass surrounding the large Victorian Estate. The blonde collapsed to her knees, gasping, as the effects of the Vortex Manipulator wore off. She'd only been traveling for a few years like this and she had yet to build an endurance. The redhead turned faintly green but held herself steady. Time was fine but moving through space always made her sick. The blonde shakily got to her feet and approached the redhead. "Prime Minister Jones?"

"Properly terrified. Gwyneth?"

"Alive and well. Going to be just fine." The blonde reached out and the redhead embraced her without another word, laughter already spilling from both their lips. Time travel, wonderful stuff. Their mode of transportation was a bit rickety (though _much_ better now that the blonde had tinkered with their manipulators) but the feeling of hurtling through time and space, the discovery of new worlds and people, the thrill and adventure... it was electric, beating through their hearts and minds, constantly pushing them to just _jump_ already. The girls grinned at one another, tugging at each other to head towards the house and excitedly gush to their family about their adventures.

"Donna I'm home!" The blonde's voice was a little louder than normal but nothing obnoxious. The red head was the one who ran to the spiral staircase and let out a bellowing "AUNT SARAH!"

"Do you _have_ to do that?!" the blonde asked with an incredulous laugh. The red head smirked and bounded down the staircase to the kitchen.

"Ooo! Cake!' The blonde rolled her eyes and followed the red head, who was happily holding a piece of cake in her hands and munching on a corner. Sighing she shoved a plate at her, groaning when her sister ignored it in favor of her fingers.

"Lia were you raised by barbarians?" she grumbled, taking a smaller piece for herself and slipping it gracefully onto the porcelain. The redhead grinned, swallowing her mouthful at the very least before speaking.

"Close! Americans!" she giggled. The blonde shook her head when she wolfed down the rest and proceeded to lick her fingers clean of the frosting.

"Dear God no wonder you're so bloody arrogant," the blonde teased. Lia snorted and rinsed her sticky hands off in the sink.

"Nah, that's genetic; dunno why you didn't get it."

"Because we're not related by blood."

"Very true!" Lia chuckled at the inside joke, winking and taking off again. "Hey where is everyone?"

"Lia, it's Wednesday," the blonde sister sighed. Lia popped back into the room long enough to grimace before running out again. "Would you change or something?! You look like a hooker!"

"THAT'S THE POINT!"

"Don't have the boobs for it!" The top Lia had been wearing smacked the blonde in the face. "Ah! Lia!" Her sister laughed as she wandered up the stairs to her room, intent on finding something more appropriate. When Lia came back down less than twenty minutes later, she was in a midriff-baring black top with long lace sleeves and bright red trousers. The blonde rolled her eyes and sighed. For Lia this was modest clothing; at least her bum was covered.

"You too, Jen. Medieval garb is awesome but impractical for this weather." Lia picked up a pair of scissors off the counter and promptly hacked off her ponytail with glee. Jen didn't even bother to remind her that it was pointless, as her hair would grow back before the end of the night, what with the time energy in her blood and all. The blonde sister wandered off to change, settling for a jumper and jeans, hair pulled back into a braid. She wandered back into the kitchen to find her sister with a tiny mobile at her ear, playfulness replaced by grimness.

"We've got company."

#$#$#$#

"No no no! Don't do _that_! Do _this_!" The Doctor was screeching at Amy while trying to hold off a gnarled looking blue thing with too many tentacles, a glaggahwhatsitmijigger. Amy couldn't understand half of what the Doctor said the majority of the time, this time being no exception. The Doctor poked the thing beneath a tentacle under a wildly spinning yellow eye with a broom, and it went limp, spilling onto the floor in a heap. Amy could have sworn she was doing the same thing with her own mop but her tentacle monster was still coming at her. The Doctor rushed over to help her, reaching for her -

_"Shit-fracker-double-decker!" _ A mass of screeching black and red was vaulted through the side wall, slamming into the monster and knocking it into a wall before rolling onto the ground. Panting, the person rose, brushing her arms off. It was a young woman with thick but short red hair and with golden-green hazel eyes. Her full lips were pulled into a snarl. "WARN ME NEXT TIME WOULD YA?!" she screeched back into the whole in the wall. There was a faint noise, like the whirring of a machine being geared up to go again.

"I do that and you fight me!" another feminine voice shouted back, still somehow reasonable even though she was yelling. The red head huffed, rolled her eyes, and spun around.

"Hullo Amy! Where's Doctor? Oh there he is!" She clapped her hands excitedly and pointed enthusiastically at the Doctor. A blonde head popped through the whole in the wall, hazel eyes wide, before disappearing again. The Doctor's mouth dropped open in shock and crushing hope.

"Hi Dad! Can't talk right now, trying to keep my sister from getting everyone killed! Will explain later!"

"Dad?" Amy squeaked at the same time the Doctor croaked out a, "Jenny?" A pale hand appeared, waving frantically, before vanishing again. The redhead was indignantly protesting.

"Hey, I'm not getting _anyone_ killed! I'm being careful!"

"Like in Wonderland?"

"Shut up I didn't know the Red Queen was _that _insane!"

"Didn't you read _Alice in Wonderland_ as a kid?!"

"I'm an American, I watched TV, I didn't – HEY! GET BACK HERE!" The tentacle monster was slowly inching away from the red head. She lunged, catching it by one flailing tentacle and wrenching back hard, dragging it back towards the hole in the wall. It screeched and flung itself at the red-haired girl, teeth becoming visible for the first time. She laughed and punched it in it's now visible mouth, and the creature went still. "There's a good monster," the red-head crooned, slinging it over her shoulder. "Machine ready to go?"

"Yeah just give me one… more… _there!_" The red-head disappeared through the whole in the wall, where there was a soft _pfft_ of released air. She came back out alone, smugness radiating from her body, and grabbed the other prone creature. She did the same to it as the first one. When she came back out there was the blonde girl trailing behind her, both shy and hopeful and eager and wary all at once. The Doctor and Amy had been frozen all this time, watching her, when the two girls appeared before them. The red-head was grinning at them, her lips wide and inviting in a smile that showed almost all of her teeth. It was one of those celebrity smiles, fake most of the time, but this one contained almost unspeakable joy. The blonde struggled to smile, eyes wide with the swirl of emotions inside of her expressive body language. They regarded each other, all of them flickering their eyes to and fro, before the Doctor found his voice.

"But… but how?" the Doctor croaked out. The blonde – Jenny – shrugged. Amy watched his face and couldn't help but feel a stab of jealousy deep inside of her. This was his daughter, which frankly she hoped he _never_ looked at her like that, and it wasn't even jealousy that he _had_ a child from another woman; no, it was a jealousy born of the fact she couldn't remember her own parents, dead for so long that there wasn't even a memory buried for her to cherish, and she would never remember being adored like that. A warm hand eclipsed hers and she turned to see the red-head's smiling, though much sadder, face.

"C'mon, they're going to need a moment." She tugged at Amy, pulling her away from the father and daughter. "They haven't seen each other in so long, and frankly, the circumstances that split them up were rather horrific… so…" She seemed awkward, as if she wanted to tell Amy but _not_ tell her at the same time. Amy found herself skipping over the obvious question of how they were separated for one just as pressing to her.

"So… who's her mother?" The red-head burst into laughter. Amy raised an eyebrow at her, yanking her hand back and rubbing it on her short miniskirt while glaring at the other girl. She was still snorting through her nose when she turned back to Amy.

"Nobody," she cackled. Amy went from mildly pissed to confused in the space of time that it took for the other red-head to utter the short three syllables.

"What?" Still laughing, the red-head ducked into the whole in the wall and began to make a clanging noise. Amy rushed to follow her and found her banging on the side of a large metal cylinder, golden in color and humming gently. Each bang echoed hollowly in the short hallway of the abandoned building.

"Yep! The Glasophemars are back safe and sound on their home world!" she chirped cheerfully. "Poor things were only babies; we found the crash site a few kilometers outside of London. Must have come in here trying to find the Time Rift so they could send a signal back to Trenze." This had all become almost one syllable in the other red-head's haste to push the words out and distract her from her original question. Amy knew this but was too curious about what she was doing to care too much. She'd find out later.

"What?" The red-head spoke like the Doctor, too fast and in a rush that made a normal being's head whirl. She even gave Amy the same look, like she was a drooling infant, for not keeping up with her thought process. Amy had to repress a smile as she asked her next question. Any gaps in the story she figured she could press the Doctor for later. "Okay, so Doctor's daughter; how do you know her?"

"Oh I'm her sister!" the red-head said brightly. _That explained a lot._

There was the sound of stumbling footsteps behind Amy and a soft cry of "_What?!_" followed by giggles from both in front of her and behind her. Amy turned to find the Doctor was going bright red, starting with his ears and flooding his entire face. "B-b-b-but!" he squeaked. The blonde girl, who had had an arm wrapped around his waist as she hugged him tightly, let go to go smack her sister upside the head even as she laughed.

"We're not related by blood, Dad," she chuckled. The red-head glared at her and smoothed down her ruffled hair. The Doctor continued to splutter but at least his face was returning to a normal color.

"Do you _have_ to do that?" she complained. The blonde ignored her. She put her hand out for Amy to shake, a bright smile in place.

"Hi, I'm Jenny." Amy took her hand hesitantly, feeling a smile pull at her lips. There was something about her that she liked, something easily serene but strong in her that pulsed through her.

"Amy Pond," she supplied. Jenny's smile didn't falter but her eyes widened slightly. The red-head behind her was smirking at the two of them. The brown eyes turned to look into the green-gold eyes behind her, where a silent conversation seemed to flow between them. Suddenly Jenny was laughing and the red-head was grinning broadly.

"Okay, okay, OKAY! Who is she Jenny?" the Doctor demanded, still frazzled and slightly red in the face. Jenny opened her mouth to reply, but the red-head threw her hands up and started to rapidly talk, interrupting her irritated sister.

"Hang on hang on! Is this before or after the StarWhale? Spoilers if it's before but I can't go to Starship U.K. yet if it's before and I have _no _intention of getting vomit on me, thank you very much! Oops, 'nother spoiler… So, anyway, before, after, what's the verdict?" She was looking expectantly at the Doctor, who was slack-jawed and silent for the first time Amy had known him.

"You've gotta teach me how to do that!" she exclaimed.

"Believe you me, you find a more effective way. Now, timeline?"

"After," Amy said when it appeared that the Doctor still hadn't recovered his voice. _He's adorable like that…_ The girls grinned and shared an unnerving look. What were they seeing?

"Good, no screwed-up time lines –"

"It's screwy-timey-whimey-wibbly-wobbly -"

"Shush. Anyway, this is my Guardian, Leah Harkness."

"You have a Guardian? Who is Jack Harkness' sister?" the Doctor finally managed. Leah smirked and Jenny rolled her eyes. Amy was lost as to who Jack Harkness was but judging from the Doctor's thinly veiled panic it couldn't be anyone good…

"Close. Try his _wife_."

**Aaaaaaannd scene! Ha ha this is going to be fun… Now Syd wants me to focus on the Library and the episode with House, so I'm probably going to work on those pretty soon. Library's going to be important because… well… you'll see! Bit of a spoiler: Lia hits the Doctor, Jenny doesn't raise a finger for some reason, and it involves a sonic screwdriver. There you go! That's first chapter! Hope you enjoyed!**

**-Bella**


	2. Chapter 1: The Stories and The Glasses

**Okay, so, I kind of named this chapter one because I hated the other one. Honestly it's the best that I could come up with at the time. So any-who, this is the real first chapter, hope this one goes over better. Also, I changed the name of the fic, because frankly, that title had been made up on a whim and the one I put up there seems to make a lot better sense considering what this story is about. So, yeah. That explains that.**

**Oh right, the stuff in italics! All of that at the beginning is stuff that you won't get to see. Like, what happens behind the curtain kind of, but is important to the story later on. It's like all those sub-episode-thingies (yeah yeah Syd, I know what they **_**are**_**, I just can't remember the name okay? Yell later!) you have to watch illegally to know what's going on (and I still say no, by the way!). So there is a lot happening with each character in these areas but you're not really supposed to know which character, what they're talking about, any of that. Sorry if it's confusing but it will make sense later, I promise!**

**Onto the show!**

**Chapter One: The Stories and the Glasses**

_The glass coffin sits there, serene as ever. That's how she sees it in her dreams; a glass coffin, one that contains a sleeping princess… or monster. She's not sure which it is, really. She only knows that, be it a princess or a monster, she's afraid of what's inside. A princess would rule her and lock her up, take over, and never let her see the light again. A monster would devour her so nothing would be left. She's so afraid of what is inside that coffin. For four years she has run from that coffin and straight into the woods… or so she thought. Each time she ran from the coffin she'd barrel through a bright red door, with a horror behind that she could never remember, but always woke up in cold sweat from, panting and shivering, sometimes even crying. It was either the monster in the coffin or the monster behind the door. Not much of a choice in the end._

_But for once in her short life… she's not afraid of the person in the coffin._

_She doesn't know when she stopped being afraid. It certainly didn't end with when the strange, goofy yet somehow terrifying alien shoved her off the university's roof and straight into the odd blue box that was so much bigger on the inside than the outside. Maybe it began to dwindle then, but it didn't go away. In fact it returned in full force when she found out exactly what kind of alien he was. The blonde girl, the alien's daughter, was kind to her. That helped. And the red-headed human was so loving towards her, if a little fierce at times, it was impossible to stay afraid of her too. She can't say when she stopped being afraid, but she knows when she finally met the blonde's sister, a girl with flaming red hair and green-gold eyes, she wasn't afraid anymore. Even though she should have been, she wasn't afraid. The red haired woman had smiled, waved, and went back to what she was doing without even glancing back at her again. Of course she knew. Of _course_. And that was perfect._

_It's snowing in this place of her mind. That's new; usually it's black and dead, terrifying in its utter lifelessness. It still is too – but there's snow now, and it's more beautiful, more serene. Not dead anymore, but simply sleeping, waiting to be woken up. She trudges to the coffin, not cold even though it's snowing, and lowers her head to better see the person inside. The glass is cracked and webbed, on the verge of shattering from where she had fought to get out of the glass enclosure. All of those times she had tried to get out and had simply been shut up again, stabbed into silence again… no more._

_The woman in the coffin's eyes are wide open, warm and gentle. There's a storm in her too, vast and endless… but it's in all of them. All of them, even the human, have this storm. The will to fight, the endless battles stretching forth, the desperation to _live_… Sometimes she wonders, later, after she's woken up with a contented smile with hearts light after so many years of them being dark, if that's what she was afraid of; that tenacious grip on life, the adventure of it, the pulse of it beneath cool fingers. Maybe. Does it really matter anymore?_

_She leans down and lifts the edge of the lid. The woman inside is grinning now, breath halted on an expected event, long awaited. In that moment she reflects on the fact that maybe she's been here much longer than the past four years; maybe she's been here all her life, caged and waiting, screaming to be let out, to be allowed to _live_. This thought spurs her on, forces strength through shaking, nervous limbs. The lid only extends a little more before the glass shatters, the frame left in fingers shaking with a sudden bout of trepidation. A cool hand reaches out and captures the fingers, urging her to let them go. She does, and the woman tosses the frame aside like it weighs as much as the snow around her. She looks up into the woman's face and is suddenly dizzy, for her features are constantly shifting, morphing, first one face and then another. Her skin and height constantly change too, now milky white and short, then golden with freckles and tall, before short again and tan. The features shift to that of a girl no older than fifteen, with pale skin, full berry lips, a mixture of red and brown in equal measures in her hair, and green-gold eyes. She grins, revealing straight white teeth with a little gap in the middle, and chuckles. She finds herself smiling back, staring into those green-gold eyes now dusted through with stars of excitement, and feels her hearts pick up speed._

"_Don't be afraid anymore; there's nothing to be ashamed of," the little girl says. Only she's not a little girl anymore, as she is growing taller, features rearranging into those of a decidedly older face, though not by much. The hair lightens into a thick honey-and-strawberry color, the skin becomes a few shades cooler so she is as white as the snow, and her features straighten into a more regal mask. The gap between her teeth snaps shut with a gentle click. But those green-gold eyes… those stay the same. She wonders if they always will. She hopes so._

_Her smile softens because she knows this already. And she speaks a name in a language only three others in that particular time know. And she watches, as she looks into her own face reflected by that person she can finally identify, as the word connects; and laughs as the snow abruptly stops when the being in front of her explodes into golden energy, rushes to fill the landscape, the air, _her _with its magnificence. And she whoops as the energy turns the world around her into lush red grass, blazing orange skies and glimmering silver trees. _

_The part of her she had so long tried to kill is very much alive now. As it should be. As it always will be._

***WHO***

The Doctor does not like things he doesn't trust. Oh he's secretive, and capricious about companions, and a right pain in the arse to them too, but he _trusts_ them; he trusts them while they're there, and then he trusts them to leave him. It's the way it goes.

He doesn't trust Leah, _especially_ around his daughter and Amy.

He doesn't know what it is, exactly. Maybe it's her decidedly abrasive and confrontational manner of talking to him. Maybe it' the fact that she clicks with Amy so well… _terrifyingly_ well. Maybe it's because she claims to be his daughter's guardian. Guardians were rare back on Gallifrey, having fallen out of fashion millennia before he was born. They were usually other races, warriors, peoples who could kill without a second thought. They could – and would – bear intolerable pains for their charges, and they would do it without flinching. This girl whined if someone whacked her across the back of the head. Plus, the chances of _anyone_ knowing about those ancient vows to protect whilst one held breath to protect with were so slim they were nearly nonexistent. The evidence against her was mounting higher and higher, digging a ditch for her and edging her towards being kicked off the TARDIS.

Exhibit A: Leah didn't have the proper scars for such a position. She should have had a scar, so faint it was closer to a birthmark, somewhere on her body to tie her to his daughter. He could say with absolute certainty after she walked into the consul room one day wearing nothing but a pair of pants, a black tank, an ornate silver and diamond ring on her left hand and an intricate pendant bouncing on her chest, she had no such scar.

Exhibit B: She didn't have any Time Energy in her blood that he could identify. Guardians ended up with a subtle amount of a gold shimmer to their blood that promoted healing. She should have had a faint glow about her as a result. Which she didn't.

Exhibit C: She was a pain, and he very much doubted if he would have _let_ his daughter accept a Guardian such as her.

The Doctor rolled his head to the side and glared down the hallway to where he just _knew_ she was. Oh the TARDIS was being no help whatsoever in this. The minute the girls had stepped on board – well, Jenny stepped, Leah pelted down the hall and shouted that her room better be locked still – the TARDIS had all but _squealed_ with delight and had promptly sent sparks shooting to the ceiling to show her appreciation. Sparks that had then set his bowtie on fire. He was still angry with her about that too; it had been his _red_ one! His red one! It couldn't have been one of those horrid long things he had left over from Ten, no, it _had_ to be his favorite…

Not the point. The point was she was trouble in its rawest form. And he _despised_ trouble. Mostly. Usually. Sometimes. A few rare times. When it was convenient for him to hate it. And he wasn't causing it.

Oh, _and_, AND she was from the future! Between her and River Bloody Song he was going to go completely mad with all these women throwing him hints and secret, sly glances. Honestly, did he know _anyone_ that didn't know more than him at the moment?! HE was the Time Lord; why did THEY know more about time?!

Laughter spilled from the hallway, and sighing to himself, the Doctor got up from where he had been hiding – _reading_ – in the library to find his daughter, his companion and the annoying pain. _Should've learned after Mickey to boot the tag-a-longs while I have a chance…_

Jenny was propped up under the console, a wrench in one hand and a set of couplings in the other. A burst of pride bloomed in his chest seeing his girl fixing his beloved time machine. Jenny had proven that she was more than the soldier she was designed to be by earning herself a Ph.D. in engineering and calculus in the past few years (Time Lord brains, gotta love 'em). She loved math and the beautiful complexity of equations, even the ones she wrinkled her small nose at and said, "Ew," a trait he found charmingly endearing. Jenny sat up and smiled at the Doctor, dark eyes practically glowing with happiness. Leah and Amy sat on the edge of the balcony, legs swinging into space as they talked and laughed.

"Naked?" Amy repeated, seeming to be choking she was laughing so hard. Leah nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course! Had to be naked! Not as bad as what Jen did though, with the cyber-rat-thingy," she said wickedly, giving her "sister's" foot a playful shove. Jenny frowned and rolled her eyes, kicking Leah in the back with the abused appendage. Amy was coming up with various ideas of what could have been worse than streaking that involved a mechanical rat. The images made her start snorting all over again.

"Hush! I'm trying to keep us from flying into the vortex and getting stuck!" she complained good-naturedly. The Doctor scowled and strode over, stooping near Jenny and giving Leah a dirty look. The green-gold eyed girl simply huffed and nudged Amy, crossing her eyes comically. Jenny frowned and tapped his shoulder. "Be nice," she admonished quietly. The Doctor didn't reply, noticing how happy Amy looked and feeling something dark slither through his psyche. What was Leah playing at anyhow, charming Amy like that? What was the point, the motive? Rassilon help him, if she hurt her –

"Dad why is there duct tape around the gravity globe?" Jenny asked curiously, breaking him from his musings. He felt color rise in his cheeks as Amy sniggered. Leah got oddly quiet, turning her head just enough that he couldn't see her expression.

"Well… er… there was an incident with an… um…"

"He couldn't figure out how to fix it so he taped it up and stuck it back," Amy supplied with a snickering laugh. Jenny rolled her eyes and sighed. She painstakingly pulled the silvery tape back and studied the deep crack in the glass. The Doctor squirmed seeing that knowing look come into her eyes.

"Oh this is an easy fix! All you did was crack the veneer on the subdural layer of the cortex. If you could hand me those tweezers and a blow torch I can shift the cortex back into the socket and fix the layer!"

"English?" Leah requested. Her face was impassive, and Amy was frowning as she studied her. The Doctor barely spared her a glance, too proud of his girl to really consider the foe-Guardian. His little genius! That bit of tech she had made to send the aliens back to their home was beyond impressive… He distinctly heard Amy ask her if she was alright and Leah brush her off with a wave of her hand. He frowned, though hid it from Jenny. That was _not_ okay. By the time Jenny looked back at him eagerly he was grinning again.

"I have to fix the glass on the inside."

"Oh. Well then, I'm going to go get ready. Soon as you're done he's going to want to be off again." Leah jumped to her feet and was gone in a flash of short red hair. Amy was still frowning, turning to Jenny in bewilderment at her friend's odd behavior.

"Nutter," the Doctor muttered. Amy grabbed one of her shoes and chucked it at him with a glare. He yelped and shot away from the rather precise throw.

"No, homesick," Jenny corrected quietly. "Last time she went home apparently one of the kids broke the gravity globe. Was laughing as she told me about how everyone was stuck on the ceiling for three hours before I fixed it." Jenny sighed. "She hasn't seen them in two weeks now and it's wearing on her…" She shook her head slightly to dislodge the thought. Only one word really registered with the Doctor though as he jerked in surprise.

"Kids?" Amy asked in surprise. Jenny shrugged.

"That's what she said. Honestly, it could be anyone, she calls Dad a kid when she's rally annoyed at him… Or wants to annoy him…."

"Oh well, that fits," Amy said, tongue in cheek. The Doctor snorted and plopped down next to her, way too close into her personal space but she didn't seem to care. She leaned on his shoulder and murmured, "I can't believe she's your kid. She doesn't look anything like you."

"Oh well, she wouldn't," he stated bluntly, not bothering to lower his voice. Jenny's superior Time Lord hearing meant she could hear them from her vantage point. "She's composed of DNA from my previous regeneration, scrambled around so that a whole new person is made. Besides, after I became _this_ me, we share next to no similarities on a physiological level. Compare our tissue samples and they won't be a match; compare blood, and the similarity is so low most people will write it off. Only Time Lords know after a while who's related to who. S'why we have that instinctive recognition of our relatives. Or… rather… _did_." He became lost for a moment in his own mind, thinking of his people trapped in the Time Lock. Amy, sensing his shift in mood, wrapped a hand around his shoulder and squeezed gently. He smiled at her in gratitude, closing his hand over her. The smile that lit her hazel eyes cold have outdone the sun in brightness.

"Oh ick, get a room!" Leah complained, moving around them to sink beside Jenny. Amy and the Doctor pulled apart, Amy blushing and the Doctor hurriedly stammering negations. Jenny and Leah shared n amused look. Jenny was the first to laugh.

"What about the pool?" she quipped. This made Amy blush harder, the Doctor squeak instead of stammer, and Leah make a face.

"Noooo, no pool! Ew, c'mon that's where I drown myself when I walk in on 'couple-time'!" she grunted. Jenny laughed harder. The Doctor mouthed _couple-time_ at himself until a rush of understanding flooded over his brain. Oh disgusting… Amy went red in the face trying not to laugh at his expression.

"What are _we_ supposed to do around you and Jack, hm?" It was Leah's turn to blush.

"One time you caught us," she muttered. "_Once!_"

"More than enough," Jenny retaliated. "Though Jack does have a nice bum…" she added in a thoughtful tone even as a blush stained her cheeks.

"Ack!" Amy burst out into giggles as both Leah and the Doctor simultaneously made the same squeaking, high-pitched noise. This was bad. This was _so_ bad. They were talking about _naked_ things in his TARDIS! Naked! In the TARDIS! Though if Amy was naked in the TARDIS… whoa, where did _that_ come from?! No naked Amy in the TARDIS! No nakedness! None! Zero! Nada! Definitely not imagining a naked Amy in his bed in his room in the TARDIS!

"No more talk about this! None! Stop it!" the Doctor all but squealed. All three girls laughed at him. Leah stood up and offered a hand down to her "sister". That's when the Doctor got a good look at what she was wearing for the first time. Contrary to what she usually wore she was actually quite covered. Black shorts peaked out from beneath a black pleated skirt, leaving only a few inches of peachy skin before over the knee black socks began. Those flowed down over her legs to a pair of beaten up, laced-up combat boots. A white button down covered her top half with a black tie dangling overtop of it. Her short red hair was brushed to the side in a deep side part, tousled carelessly. No, all of that was fine. In fact he was ecstatic that she was covered and decent. Actually he was also contemplating the best way to burn all those obnoxious corsets and midriff tops she had. No what bothered him was the pair of thick black glasses she had perched on her nose. Glasses he knew very well from a different time altogether.

Those were his previous body's favorite pair of "smart" glasses.

"What are you going wearing my glasses?!" he snapped. The redhead appeared startled by his outburst, taking the glasses off quickly to examine them before putting them back on. Jenny and Amy just looked confused.

"Your glasses?" Amy asked while Jenny declared, "She always wears those!"

"They're mine. They were a birthday present!" Leah said defensively. She backed up, shoes squeaking slightly on the floor, as the Doctor advanced.

"Birthday present from who?" the Doctor demanded angrily. Leah's eyes flashed and suddenly she was in front of him, enraged. The Doctor took an involuntary step backward away from her.

"You, you moron!" The other girls were startled as they jumped to their feet. Jenny was behind Leah swiftly, grabbing her arm to stop her from getting physical. A part of him almost wished she would – maybe then he could get her off the TARDIS. The space ship gave the equivalent of a mental growl at that thought but he ignored her. "Jesus what is with you?! You're not this much of a jackass in the future!"

"Well obviously I'm more idiotic in the future!" the Doctor snapped back, regaining his composure. "Who are you Leah Harkness? Why are you claiming to be my daughter's Guardian?"

"I'm not claiming anything, I _am_ your daughter's guardian!" He didn't miss how she completely ignored his first question. Oh no, that didn't escape him at all.

"Prove it!" he snapped back. "Where's your scar?" Jenny's eyes widened, poor Amy seemed even more lost, and Leah became flustered in the space of a millisecond. "Where's your scar?" the Doctor repeated forcefully. Leah bristled.

"None of your damn business, Spaceman!" she hissed. Oh that did the trick alright; he felt his face drain of color even as hers flushed. That was low and they both knew it.

"Okay, what the hell? Why are you angry over a pair of glasses and why did everyone shut up?" Amy shouted into the stillness. No one answered her and she huffed angrily, sitting on the edges of the stairs. _Keep treating me like I'm a stupid human…_ the Doctor dimly heard.

"Where did you hear that name?" the Doctor murmured, his tone threatening angry violence any second. Realizing her mistake, Leah backed up, but the Doctor advanced right with her. She stubbornly shut her mouth, intermittently clenching her jaw and releasing the bunched muscles.

"Aunt Donna still calls you that," Jenny said in a small, bewildered voice. "Why is that so bad?" The Doctor whirled, shocked, as the words sucker punched him. Donna? Donna Noble? _His_ Donna? How could his Donna talk about him without her head exploding? He saw out of the corner of his eye Leah frantically motioning for Jenny to shut up, but the damage was done; now he knew. Dona was alive, remembered everything, and no one had bothered to tell him. That was just perfect. The universe just seemed to want to get him, didn't it?

No sooner had he thought this then the phone rang. Still angry at being left out, Amy strode over to it and grabbed it. "Hello?" she snapped. Her face went slack as she registered who was on the other end. "Um… Doctor… it's the Prime Minister."

"Which one?" the Doctor snapped. She flushed and asked which one, eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.

"The English one," she barked back.

"Which English one?" he asked in a calmer, more neutral tone. Guilt was already crashing over him for treating her so horribly. He just couldn't do anything right, could he?

Amy's eyes went comically wide as she reiterated what was told to her. "Winston Churchill!"

Leah groaned. "Great. Just bloody wonderful. Now I get groped for my TARDIS key too. This has been one shitty day hasn't it?"

**And I'm done! Hope you lot liked, please review! Thank you!**

**Bella**


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